Hok, Part 2

 

cover art by Julian Krupa

Read/Watch 'em In Order #151

In the first Hok story, the prehistoric warrior joined together several clans to fight off Neanderthals. 

Hok thus ensures the survival of mankind AND begins tribal society. But, by golly, Hok isn't the sort of man to just rest on his laurels. In "Hok Goes to Atlantis" (Amazing Stories, December 1939),  he goes exploring beyond the territory of his tribe. And, boy, does he find interesting stuff.

Hok finds a city, built along the sea, called Tlanis. This city has a Bronze Age civilization. We eventually find out they also have gunpowder, which they use to make small, hand-thrown bombs.

The author, Manly Wade Wellman, cheats a little in having the citizens of Tlanis and Hok speak the same language. But, as we see in Star Trek whenever the Enterprise visits a new planet, this is an acceptable break with reality in order to move the story along.

Hok does have to learn new words (such as "street" and "building") as well as new concepts. He struggles with some of those concepts. Why trade gold (a useless metal too soft to be used for weapons) for food? Why are there poor people who haven't enough to eat despite an abundance of food? Why are some people fat and useless, but still hold power over others?

Hok befriends a woman named Maie, who owns a large estate. He meets the king, named Cos, but is unimpressed by him. And when Cos casually decides that Hok's people need to be hunted down and exterminated, Hok's situation turns dangerous.

He's captured, tied up and tossed in a cave as a sacrifice to the local god. This god proves to be a hungry octopus. Hok, who is incapable of panic, figures out a way to get free from the straps used to bind him. Then, using several sharp and/or really big rocks, he kills the octopus.

In the meantime, Cos' desire for Maie leads to a impromptu rebellion against the unpopular king. More of a riot than an organized revolution, it's quickly put down. But Maie manages to join up with Hok and the two make what appears to be a last stand together in the mouth of a cave filled with gunpowder.. Hok, who has a talent for snatching thrown spears out of the air and throwing them back, has also armed himself with a diamond-headed club. He soon has a barrier of dead warriors in front of him.

Cos arrives on the scene with a bomb. This, in turn, leads to an extremely explosive climax to the story. And, when Hok returns to his people, he has a story to tell to his kids--a story that will form the beginnings of the legend of Atlantis. 

It's a great story. Hok's calm reaction to a new civilization and his ability to keep his head no matter what makes him a particularly magnificent protagonist. Maie is an effective supporting character and the action scenes are intensely exciting. Of the first two Hok stories, though both are excellent, "Hok Goes to Atlantis" begins to lift the series into True Epic territory. 

You can read the story online HERE.

We will continue to cover the Hok stories as part of the In Order series, but we'll also be looking at the four mummy movies made by Universal Studies in the 1940s. This makes me wonder who would win a fight between Hok and a mummy. I suppose we'll never know for sure.